‘Concerned' Tánaiste calls for ‘restraint' as Israeli-Iranian conflict escalates
TÁNAISTE Simon Harris has called for a deescalation of the worsening conflict between Israel and Iran.
Strikes between the two nations have intensified over the weekend.
The conflict erupted on Friday, June 13, after Israel attacked nuclear and military sites in Iran, which saw Iran retaliate with aerial attacks.
More than 220 people have been killed in Israeli strikes so far, according to Iran's health ministry, while Israel says Iranian attacks have killed 24 people.
Mr Harris, who is Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, will attend a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers by video conference today to discuss the conflict and the EU response to it.
'I am deeply concerned about the escalation in Israeli strikes on Iran and Iranian strikes on Israel,' he said ahead of the meeting.
'Civilians are impacted in both countries,' he added.
'Deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure is a violation of International Humanitarian Law,' he explained.
'I call for restraint and de-escalation by all involved and for those with influence to use it positively at this critical moment.
'Further escalation of this conflict brings a very real risk of regional spill over. This would be disastrous for all the peoples of the region.'
Today's meeting will see EU leaders discuss actions which they can take to help bring an end to the violence.
'I look forward to discussing with my colleagues how the EU can support international efforts to bring about urgent de-escalation, to allow space for dialogue and diplomacy,' Mr Harris said.
'A lasting solution to the Iranian nuclear issue can best be ensured through a negotiated solution.'
The Tánaiste claims Ireland's embassiesd in in Tehran and Tel Aviv remain in 'close contact' with Irish citizens based there.
'Any Irish citizens in the region are advised to remain in close contact with their nearest Embassy, to be vigilant, and to follow the advice of local authorities, including any orders to shelter in place,' he said.
'We continue to advise against all travel to Iran and Israel for Irish citizens.'
See More: Conflict, EU Foreign Ministers, Iran, Israel, Strikes, Tánaiste
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Irish Examiner
25 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Trump warns Tehran as agency says strikes damage Iran's underground nuclear site
Israel has pounded Iran for a fifth day in an air campaign against its longstanding enemy's military and nuclear programme. The air strikes came as President Donald Trump warned residents of Tehran to evacuate and suggested the US was working on something 'better than a ceasefire'. Mr Trump left the G7 summit in Canada a day early to deal with the conflict between Israel and Iran, telling reporters on Air Force One during the flight back to Washington: 'I'm not looking at a ceasefire. We're looking at better than a ceasefire.' I'm not too much in the mood to negotiate When asked to explain, he said the US wanted to see 'a real end' to the conflict that could involve Iran 'giving up entirely'. He added: 'I'm not too much in the mood to negotiate.' Mr Trump's cryptic messages added to the uncertainty in the region as residents of Tehran fled their homes in droves and the UN nuclear watchdog for the first time said Israeli strikes on Iran's main enrichment facility at Natanz had also damaged its underground section, and not just the surface area. Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran's top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile programme is necessary to prevent its adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon. The strikes have killed at least 224 people in Iran. Iran has retaliated by launching more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel. The Israeli military said a new barrage of missiles was launched on Tuesday. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Tuesday it believes that Israel's first aerial attacks on Iran's Natanz enrichment site had 'direct impacts' on the facility's underground centrifuge halls. 'Based on continued analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery collected after Friday's attacks, the IAEA has identified additional elements that indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz,' the watchdog said. Located 135 miles south-east of Tehran, the Natanz facility was protected by anti-aircraft batteries, fencing and Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Iran: Based on continued analysis of high resolution satellite imagery collected after Friday's attacks, the IAEA has identified additional elements that indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz. No change to report at Esfahan and Fordow. — IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) June 17, 2025 The underground part of the facility is buried to protect it from air strikes and contains the bulk of the enrichment facilities at Natanz, with 10,000 centrifuges that enrich uranium up to 5%, experts assess. The IAEA had earlier reported that Israeli strikes had destroyed an above-ground enrichment hall at Natanz and knocked out electrical equipment that powered the facility. However, most of Iran's enrichment takes place underground. Although Israel has struck Natanz repeatedly and claims to have inflicted significant damage on its underground facilities, Tuesday's IAEA statement marked the first time the agency has acknowledged impacts at the site. Iran maintains its nuclear programme is peaceful. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Tuesday that Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear sites have set the country's nuclear programme back a 'very, very long time', Israel has not been able to reach Iran's Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried deep underground. Echoing an earlier Israeli military call for some 330,000 residents of a neighbourhood in downtown Tehran to evacuate, Mr Trump on Tuesday warned on social media that 'everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!'. Israeli security forces inspect a site hit by a missile launched from Iran (Baz Ratner/AP) Tehran is one of the largest cities in the Middle East, with around 10 million people, roughly equivalent to the entire population of Israel. People have been fleeing since hostilities began. Asked why he had urged for the evacuation of Tehran, Mr Trump said: 'I just want people to be safe.' Downtown Tehran appeared to be emptying out early Tuesday, with many shops closed. The ancient Grand Bazaar was also closed, something that only happened in the past during anti-government demonstrations or at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. On the roads out of Tehran to the west, traffic stood bumper to bumper. Many appeared to be heading to the Caspian Sea, a popular holiday spot where a large number of middle and upper-class Iranians have second homes. Long lines also could be seen at petrol stations in Tehran. Printed placards and billboards calling for a 'severe' response to Israel were visible across the city. Authorities cancelled leave for doctors and nurses, while insisting everything was under control. The Israeli military meanwhile claimed to have killed someone it described as Iran's top general in a strike on Tehran. Iran did not immediately comment on the reported killing of Gen Ali Shadmani, who had just been named as the head of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, part of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Iran has named other generals to replace the top leaders of the guard and the regular armed forces after they were killed in earlier strikes. Firefighters work at a site in central Israel hit by a missile launched from Iran (Baz Ratner/AP) Before leaving the summit in Canada, Mr Trump joined the other leaders in a joint statement saying Iran 'can never have a nuclear weapon' and calling for a 'de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza'. French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that discussions were under way on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, but Mr Trump appeared to shoot that down in his comments on social media. Mr Macron 'mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a 'cease fire' between Israel and Iran', Mr Trump wrote. 'Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that.' Mr Trump said he was not ready to give up on diplomatic talks, and could send vice president JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet the Iranians. 'I may,' he said. 'It depends on what happens when I get back.' Israeli military spokesperson Brig Gen Effie Defrin said on Monday his country's forces had 'achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran's skies'. The military said it destroyed more than 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers in central Iran, a third of Iran's total, including multiple launchers just before they launched ballistic missiles towards Israel. It also destroyed two F-14 fighter planes that Iran used to target Israeli aircraft, the military said. Israeli military officials also said fighter jets had struck 10 command centres in Tehran belonging to Iran's Quds Force, an elite arm of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran. Israel's military issued an evacuation warning for a part of central Tehran that houses state TV and police headquarters, as well as three large hospitals, including one owned by the guard. It has issued similar evacuation warnings for parts of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon ahead of strikes.
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Irish Independent
2 hours ago
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‘Match your words with actions' – Paul Murphy urges Simon Harris to do more for Palestinians after being detained in Egypt
On arrival in Dublin Airport with a group of around ten others, he called on the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to match his words of criticism of Israel with actions. Last week, Mr Murphy and members of an activist group had their passports taken and were held after attempting to walk to Rafah as part of a protest march highlighting the blockage of aid into Gaza. He was then detained for a second time in Cairo on Monday when he went to a police station to retrieve his mobile phone, which was being held by authorities. 'The main thing I'm asking Simon Harris to do, and we're asking Simon Harris to do, is not to do more for us - it's to match his strong words of criticism of Israel with actions,' he said. "To fully implement the Occupied Territories Bill, to stop the overflights of weapons going through our airspace, and to stop our Central Bank authorising the sale of Israeli bonds in the European Union,' he said. Surrounded by group members with Irish and Palestinian flags, Deputy Murphy said they had 'tremendous support from the Egyptian people'. 'It's clear that the Egyptian people are very, very supportive of Palestine. Obviously, we're disappointed with the stance that the Egyptian State took,' he said. "I'm fine. All the Irish people are fine. There are still some non-Irish people who are detained out there, so we're hopeful that they're released as soon as possible and we have to be kind of mindful of the fact that they're potentially still in detention and there's other Irish people who want to come home, in terms of the comments we make about Egypt.' Reacting to criticism from Independent Ireland party leader TD Michael Collins, who branded his trip to Egypt a 'march for publicity', Deputy Murphy people can make their own judgements. 'First of all, this is not my stunt at all. This is 4,000 people that were participating. I was actually a late participant in joining it. This is probably the biggest global coordinated march for Palestine that we have seen. And even though we didn't reach Rafah, we think we did succeed in highlighting what's happening,' he explained. 'Just yesterday 38 people were killed while queuing for aid, and this has become a pattern now, over 300 people in the last three weeks. 'I left on Thursday. I was in the Dáil on Thursday morning. I'm back today, back for the Dáil, today. I think most people in this country want politicians to do everything they can to stop this genocide. This is a contribution that I felt that I could make in supporting this people-powered movement that we have.' Deputy Murphy said the next focus now is on a meeting in Brussels next week. "We definitely recognise that this phase of the global March to Gaza is finished. We accept that we will not be reaching Rafah, and those who remain there will not be reaching Rafah. 'There's a meeting in Brussels next week when Foreign Affairs Ministers are meeting with the Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs. We think that's horrendous in the context of the genocide that's been going on for 20 months. 'I think it's horrendous that Ursula von der Leyen is still talking about Israel's right to defend itself and blaming others for instability in the Middle East, considering Israel's ongoing genocide and then starting a war effectively with Iran. So that's our next focal point." Meanwhile, Mr Collins questioned what was the objective of the trip and said he would have advised Mr Murphy against travelling if he was a member of Independent Ireland. Mr Collins said it is 'Dáil time' and TDs are supposed to be working. He also questioned why Mr Murphy put himself in danger. 'As party leader, if one of my TDs came to me and said they wanted to go travelling. First of all, I'd say, it's Dáil time and it's work time, you're supposed to tend to your duties,' said Mr Collins at Leinster House. 'If it's a holiday during August or something, that's their own business. But certainly, why put yourself in danger? Why put other people in danger, because you are in a position of responsibility and you have to advise people of the dangers you're putting people in. I felt there was a danger and there was a danger for others. 'I think it was more done on the basis of publicity than maybe delivery. And delivery is for the people that is inside here, where democracy is held, where people are held to order, where we can speak our minds and he's well able to speak his mind [in the Dáil]. "It's his decision but it's a decision I'd question myself if it was within my party.' Cork TD Richard O'Donoghue said he hopes Mr Murphy is well and safe. 'You can protest, you can do all the same things of what he wanted to achieve, here. But to go over there and to put your life and other lives at risk, says to me you didn't think about the people you were leaving here behind you,' said Mr O'Donoghue. Meanwhile, Labour TD Duncan Smith said he would not criticise anybody who is trying to highlight the genocide in Gaza. 'I'm not going to be criticising any politician or citizen of this country or others who are doing what they believe they can to highlight what's going on in Gaza.' Mr Murphy has confirmed no Irish citizens are now under detention in Egypt. 'No other Irish citizens are still detained, thankfully. Again, there are many Irish citizens who are not leaving today, will still be there for a period of time and I'm kind of conscious about their safety and not putting them in in any jeopardy,' Mr Murphy told RTÉ's Morning Ireland. Mr Murphy said his second detention was a 'slow bureaucratic process' and things were taking a long time to resolve. 'But then, I asked to leave and was told that I couldn't leave and the whole time they had my passport. It became clear that I was being detained, as unfortunately hundreds of others have been detained in Egypt, many people deported.' He said his experience in Egypt 'pales into insignificance compared to what's happening in Gaza'. 'Just yesterday, 38 Palestinians were killed while queuing for aid. There's now over 300 Palestinians have been killed in those circumstances in the last three weeks,' he said. 'And the purpose of our global march to Gaza, which involved over 4,000 people coming here to Egypt from over 60 countries, was really to highlight the forced starvation that is happening and to call for a lifting of the blockade and allowing aid to flow.' Mr Murphy said he was held for around nine hours when he was detained for a second time and due to the slow nature of the process, it was unclear at first whether he was detained or not. It then became clear to him that he had been detained again because when he asked to leave the police station, he was told he was not allowed to. 'From our perspective, I mean we came here, the 4,000 people to try to march to Rafah in order to highlight what is happening in Gaza. 'Obviously, we're disappointed that we didn't get to Rafah, but we have had probably the largest international people-powered coalition for Palestine in a very, very long time. 'I think we did raise awareness about what is happening. And so, in the context of the severe Egyptian repression that is taking place, I'm conscious that look, there's still people in detention. There's still many, many people who won't be flying home.' While there will not be another attempt to enter Rafah, Mr Murphy said activists will now turn their attention to events like a planned meeting between European foreign ministers and the Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar in Brussels next week. 'For us, the main pressure we need to have is on Israel, to stop what it's doing in Gaza and on our own Government to stop their complicity. 'Obviously, many western governments and many of the people over there are coming from countries where the governments are actively arming and funding Israel.'
